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Rehearsal dinner meal at Pico de Gallo. It had beef, chicken on the bone, chorizo sausage, some kind of rib type thing. Served with tortillas, guacamole, cheese, sour cream, basically really awesome fajitas. Mucho tasty. Took home leftovers. We went to town on them after getting back from our night out.
I am fine with my current version of a taco salad, a spicy chicken taco salad, but I’ve been hearing about using catalina dressing atop a taco salad and finally decided to try it. While I was planning it out, I decided to try turning it into a wedge salad because... it’s a bit more composed and as a result it keeps the chips crispier. My wedge salad is a bit different than what one might traditionally get, as I cut the wedges much smaller. I think it’s more manageable to eat this way. Aside from that, most everything else is the same as my regular taco salad, except I used beef instead of chicken. Oh, and I added Cotija instead of shredded cheese. Since I used wedges, I felt there would be a bit of a problem with everything coming together so I borrowed some inspiration from Taco Bell and incorporated refried beans into a salad. It’s basically nachos with a role reversal of chips and lettuce. I also added a creamy verde sauce at the last minute because I wanted to be sure that the sense and flavor of tacos was still there, which it may not have been with the Catalina dressing and no taco sauce. Hmm, I guess it's nothing like my regular taco salad.
124 g. (½ c.) Verde Salsa (jar)
1 dried Chile
60 g. (1/4 c.) Sour Cream
* Blend salsa, dried chile, and sour cream into a smooth CREAMY VERDE SAUCE
* Refrigerate to thicken
226 g. (1 c.) Grape Tomatoes (quartered)
1 Jalapeno (diced)
30 g. (1/4 c.) Red Onion (finely diced)
Cilantro (finely chopped)
For the tomatoes I used a variety of red, green, orange, and yellow. I don't always do this but they were right next to the regular grape tomatoes so I grabbed them. The different colors can taste slightly different, and most importantly they add a more wild look to the salad.
* Toss together tomato, jalapeno, onion, and cilantro into a PICO DE GALLO
170 g. (6 oz.) 85/15 (or leaner) Ground Beef
Taco Seasoning
* Brown well and drain
* Add taco seasoning per instructions on packet or container and make into TACO MEAT
* When done, remove from heat while preparing rest of salad
Refried Beans (warmed)
4 Corn Taco Shells (warmed)
* Split taco shells down the center, into two halves
* Spread refried beans onto one side of shells
* Place shells, beans side up, around inside of plate or around sides and bottom of bowl
* Set aside 1-2 shells for later
half head of Iceberg Lettuce
Taco Meat
Catalina Dressing
Cotija
* Cut lettuce into wedges
I do my wedge salads a bit different and opt for smaller wedges as opposed to one or two giant wedges on the plate.
* Arrange lettuce wedges atop taco shells as desired
* Add taco meat over lettuce wedges
* Lightly drizzle catalina over top of lettuce
* Sprinkle cotija over top
Pico de Gallo
* Add the pico over top
Black Olives (sliced)
Green Olives (sliced)
Pickled Jalapeno Slices
half of a small Avocado (cubed)
Lime Wedge
* Add olives, jalapenos, avocado, and lime wedge as desired
dollop of Sour Cream
Creamy Verde Sauce
Catalina Dressing
Cotija
Crushed Taco Shells
* Finish with more sour cream, catalina and cotija, creamy verde sauce, and crushed taco shells.
The catalina dressing does work well, and is subtle enough to not overpower everything like ranch dressing would. If someone wants to try it, they may want to do it soon since catalina dressing is on the list of soon to be banned foods in the U.S. I guess too many people were mainlining catalina dressing to the point where it is an epidemic, similar to autisim. Thank God we have the Trump administration to take care of the real problems, like catalina dressing and autisim.
F.Y.I.: you need a knife to eat a wedge salad.